** Topic: Zagreb Diary **
Response  48  of  67
** Written  6:55 PM  Jun 10, 1992 by wamkat in gn:yugo.antiwar **
Subject: Zagreb Diary

Zagreb Diary
9/10-06-1992

Dear Friends,

It is strange that somehow Croatia is always related with Nationalism and Neofasism, I noticed by myself how I try to find time after time symbols of this things here in Zagreb. And how I reacted before I came here on the fact that in the German press there was a messages that Neo-Nazis were fighting in the Croatian army. Somehow in general you never combine this terms with f.i. Slovenia, Bosnia and even Serbia. 

Even in my stories I notice that I often describe situations which could be considered as fasictic or similar. The left wing movement in Croatia also knew about this before the war, therefore they call them always Yugoslav rather than Croats, in the counter to f.i. most of the other left wingers in Europe who have a tendency to call themselves after their region. I must say at least from myself that I always would say I am from Limburg, rather then from the Netherlands.

In the same time that we in Western Europe accused Croatia from being extremely nationalistic in Serbia already Chetnik groups were active. And those groups have the same form and images as the Utachi group in Croatia. I don't know why it was somehow so that this negative vision on Croatia was harder than on Serbia.  

In is also a fact that Paraga party started to grow after the war started and that before it was a very marginal wing in pre-war Croatia. And to say something positive about Tudjman for a change is the fact that without him extreme nationalism would have been much more powerful at this moment. At least somewhere in the line he worked as a short of filter, without his appearance Paraga's party would probably be much stronger.

Vesna just showed me the newest brand of children chocolate, called "Cro(atian) Army" and is wrapped in camouflage paper. It is very popular and inside the wrapping you can find nice drawn pictures of brave Croatian soldiers. Earlier it were nice pictures of animals. But yeah.... even children... Most of the toys you can buy for your children here are anyway always related to armies (you can choice nowerdays, HV or UN plastic tanks).

It was rainy today in Croatia and the other parts of former Yugoslavia and that is very very good, when it is raining the bombing on Sarajevo is not so intense you know, the get especially heavy bombed when it is a sunny day. So even when it looks a lot less positive outside our windows we have at least the feeling that it is better for our friends in Sarajevo.

The 50 UN monitors has arrived in Sarajevo just a few hours ago, together with the first convoy which got through to Sarajevo in weeks, the carried 3 tons of medicines and were held already for many days a little north of Sarajevo, but weren't be robbed. According to the latest news JNA is removing their heavy arms from Sarajevo airport, but the shelling is still heavy in the rest of the city.

The French UNPROFOR force will go to Sarajevo today or tomorrow was said on the television and rumours are now widely spread that the 6 fleet commander had a secret talk with the Croatian government. Question were asked at television, but Tudjman said he couldn't say anything about this talks.

One of my tasks as I feel it is often to be a symbol, a promoter of hope and crazy idea. Most of my friends have just enough money to live and have crazy ideas what they really like to do and what they think should be done. But it is so hard to leave their last securities to realise their dreams. Imagine you earn 100 Dmarks per month, that is just enough to pay or your food or your rent, never for both. But at least you have some security. I am pushing like hell to convince them that we are able to build up our own alternatives (social centre, free press and media, etc.), with a little help from our friends abroad.

Rainer from Berlin came by yesterday with a full bag of presents for me and the other people from ARK (as well as a large amount of chocolate for children in the refugees camps, which I have been spreading out today), the best present he brought was however a world receiver. For the first time in two months I have the feeling again that I am living in the world. For hours I have been listen to BBC world services, Italian, Spanish, German and even Dutch programmes. I didn't knew anything from the tension in between Cuba and the states. But all that other news I swallowed like candies. Reading newspapers were Sarajevo was only an small article on page 5 and nothing was said about the things which fill the papers here every day.

At last I hear what you have been hearing all that time, I have been reading what you have been reading and for a day the war was far far away. Suddenly the world became bigger. Do you know f.i. that a shark was seen in the North sea yesterday. And that people in the western world should change their eating habits to avoid further ecological disasters (said in Brazil).

For the first time I also experienced what it is to get solidarity gifts from the west, it was in many ways a strange thing for me, getting presents from somebody I only met through the nets. It is great.  With Love and Peace from Zagreb,

Wam:-)

P.s. you will have to miss me for two days now since I will be of the net, I will try to get on in Osijek, but my laptop is in Paris and not back yet.

And don't forget the fact that we need still volunteers for our workcamps.
** End of text from gn:yugo.antiwar **